1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods and systems for assisting live visual describers, more specifically to system and methods for instantaneous display of catch up buffer status through a visual display.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a large number of visually impaired individuals in the United States, many of these visually impaired individually are legally blind. Further, the number of visually impaired individuals is expected to grow as the population ages. Therefore, addressing the needs of this population is ever more important.
One important source of information and entertainment for visually impaired individuals is radio. One example of radio broadcasts is those from public radio stations such as National Public Radio (NPR), which has a weekly audience of over 26 million people. More than 99 percent of the American population lives in an area serviced by an NPR member station.
Public radio has also had an important role in the nation's emergency response system. Broadcast radio serves as a lifeline of communications during times of emergencies, especially when the power grid is down. FEMA routinely advises the public to make sure they have radios with batteries on hand when major storms approach. Many, if not most radio stations have backup generators at studios and transmitters, and many also maintain dedicated links to local Emergency Operations Centers.
The nation's Primary Entry Point system (PEP) is the backbone of the Emergency Alerting System, established subsequent to President Truman's creation of the CONELRAD system in 1951. Thirty four Primary Entry Point AM broadcast stations were designated early on by FEMA to carry presidential messages in times of national emergencies. The PEP stations are provided with hardened facilities and secure telephone links from FEMA. NPR, on a voluntary public service basis, continuously monitors the PEP system and passes all national messages directly to the over 800 stations that receive programming through the Public Radio Satellite System. The NPR system is tested weekly and staffed 7/24.
Starting in Minneapolis in 1969, radio reading services for the blind began operating using analog FM subcarriers across the nation to read current books, newspapers, and magazines to those with print handicaps. Today over 100 reading services are in continuous operation and several reading service programs are distributed for use on other reading services through the Public Radio Satellite System. Congress has established a copyright exemption for the reading of such information to the print handicapped. It is estimated that nearly a million FM subcarrier radios have been distributed to users in the ensuing years.
One radio service assisting the visually impaired is the San Diego Radio Information Service, which commenced in the late 1970's, and which described broadcasts synchronized with the annual Rose Parade broadcast on CBS television. Blind consumers in reading service areas could enjoy the broadcast along with sighted family members by turning the TV sound down and turning up the local radio reading service carrying the described feed. The description would be provided by live visual describers who described the events verbally. This has been useful not only for people to view broadcasts like the Rose parade, but also for people viewing theatre, television, or visiting a museum or art gallery. In all these situations, the visual content is being is described for a listener by a visual describer.